>iscussion  of  the  Paper  of 
E.  Sweet  ...  The  Radical 
Enlargement  of  the  Erie  Canal 

By 
E.L.  Cor the 11 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT   LOS  ANGELES 


AMKRICAX  SOCIKTY  OF  CIVIL  I'NCi 

Discussion  of  the   Paper  of 


THE  RADICAL  ENLARGEMENT  OF  THE  ERIE  CANAL, 


E.  L  CORIHELL,  M.  Am.  Soc.  C.  E. 


JCORIH 


Read  at  the    Convention    of   the    American    Society  of 
Civil    Engineers,    June    25th,    iS85. 

"CANALS  AND  RAILROADS, 
SHIP  CANALS  &  SHIP  RAILWAYS." 


AMERICAN  SOCIETY  OF  CIVIL  ENGINEERS. 


Discussion  of  the  Paper  of 
E.   SWEET,   M.   AM.   Soc.  C.   E. 

THE  RADICAL  ENLARGEMENT  OF  THE  ERIE  CANAL, 

—BY— 

E.  L  CORTHELL,  M.  Am.  Soc.  C.  E. 

Read  at  the    Convention    of  the    American   Society  of 
Civil    Engineers,    June    25th,   i885. 


"CANALS  AND  RAILROADS, 
SHIP  CANALS  &  SHIP  RAILWAYS." 


7 


C&I 


CANALS    AND    RAILROADS, 
SHIP  CANALS  AND  SHIP  RAILWAYS. 


THE  principles  underlying  the  subject  of  Transportation, 
and  the  important  conditions  affecting,  modifying  and  con- 
trolling its  methods,  demand  a  wider  investigation  than  is 
embraced  in  the  paper  under  discussion.  We  have,  therefore, 
treated  the  subject  in  its  general  application  under  the 
above  capjtion. 

At  this  epoch  in  the  development  of  the  world's  commerce 
and  industry,  after  less  than  a  century  of  steam  transpor- 
tation on  land  and  water,  it  is  necessary  to  contrast  the 
various  methods  and,  in  the  light  of  their  history,  ascertain 
the  best  means  for  the  future,  especially  for  international 
commerce  and  interoceanic  communications. 

The  gradual  abandonment  of  the  canals,  and  the  rapid  and 
general  introduction  of  railroads  during  the  last  forty  years, 
are  facts  so  patent  that  no  proofs  are  necessary,  but  the 
reasons  for  this  change  in  the  methods  of  transportation  are 
not  so  well  known. 

There  is  a  vast  difference  between  transportation  on  the 
'open  sea  and  in  the  restricted  channels  of  barge  and  ship 
canals. 

The  opposing  force  that  the  boat  herself  creates  by  her 
movement  through  the  water,  and  which  increases  the  cost 
of  transportation,  is  quite  fully  described  in  the  following 
explanation  of  the  controlling  conditions  given  in  Vol.  76, 
page  162,  1883,  Transactions  of  the  Institution  of  Civil 
Engineers  of  Great  Britain  : 

"  A  vessel  in  its  progress  is  continually  displacing  a  mass 
of  water  equal  to  its  own  submerged  bulk,  and  proportional 


to  the  greatest  immersed  cross-section  of  the  vessel.  In 
open  water  the  vacuum  that  would  otherwise  be  left  in  the 
wake  of  the  vessel,  is  filled  by  the  water  rushing  in  from  all 
sides.  When  the  movement  of  a  vessel  takes  place  in  a 
restricted  channel,  the  case  is  altered.  There  is  no  longer 
an  indefinite  supply  of  water  all  around  the  vessel  to  rush 
into  the  hollow  at  theVake.  This  hollow  must  be  filled  by 
water  which  flows  backwards,  as  a  counter  current  driven  by 
the  head  due  to  the  height  of  the  wave  caused  by  the  vessel. 
This  backward  current  will  be  directly  as  the  speed  and 
the  cross-section  of  the  vessel,  and  inversely  as  the  free 
water  way.  Consequently,  a  boat  encounters  continually  an 
opposing  current,  so  that  her  speed  will  be  the  difference' 
between  her  own  proper  one  and  that  of  the  opposing 
current." 

The  practical  results  obtained  in  operating  canals  confirms 
the  above  theory.  In  a  canal  near  Preston,  England,  about 
30  miles  long,  all  the  traffic  was  turned  in  one  direction  for 
one  day.  This  piled  up  the  water  at  one  end  18  inches,  and 
shallowed  it  at  the  other  end  18  inches.  (See  Vol.  76,  page 
201,  Trans.  Inst.  C.  E.)  A  serious  resistance  is  developed  if 
the  attempt  is  made  to  urge  the  boat  in  a  contracted 
channel,  like  a  canal,  beyond  a  speed  of  from  two  to  three 
miles  per  hour.  In  Vol.  76,  page  183,  Trans.  Inst.  C.  E.,  are 
recorded  some  useful  experiments  on  the  traction  power 
required  to  move  canal  boats  at  different  speeds.  With  a 
velocity  of  2^  miles  per  hour,  the  power  necessary  to  move 
one  ton  was  2]/2  Ibs.  ;  4  miles  per  hour,  7  to  1 1  Ibs.  ;  5  miles, 
20  to  30  Ibs.  From  these  experiments  it  was  established 
that  the  proper  or  economical  speed  for  canals  was  from  2  to 
2^/2  miles  per  hour.  On  journeys  in  a  steam  launch,  in  an 
Indian  canal  40  feet  wide,  near  Rangoon,  when  the  depth 
was  slight,  the  launch  could  not  make  over  i  to  2  miles  per 
hour,  but  in  a  greater  depth,  5  miles  per  hour.  This  statement 
is  made  by  Mr.  Robert  Gordon,  M.  Inst.  C.  E.,  Great  Britain. 
The  resistance  to  the  movement  of  a  "  Carrier"  wave,  that  is, 
a  wave  in  advance  of  a  boat  or  vessel  passing  through  a 
canal,  decreases  as  the  depth  increases.  Experiments  in 


England,  showed  that  at  a  depth  of  I  foot  it  ran  at  the  rate 
of  4  miles  per  hour  ;  with  a  5  feet  depth,  8  miles  per  hour; 
with  a  15  feet  depth,  15  miles  ;  and  with  a  2O  feet  depth,  2O 
miles.  In  reference  to  canal  navigation  on  the  Aire  and 
Calder  Navigation,  England,  where  steam  barges  are  used, 
and  the  boats  are  about  63  feet  long,  12  feet  wide,  and  6  feet 
draft,  the  following  statement  appears  :  "  The  velocity 
should  not  be  over  4  to  5  miles  per  hour,  as,  at  higher 
speeds,  the  resistance  of  the  water  would  be  so  great  as  to 
require  an  unnecessarily  large  expenditure  of  power,  and  the 
wave  created  would  destroy  the  bank."  The  destructive 
wave  is  caused,  not  by  the  wheel,  or  wheels,  of  the  towing 
boats,  but  by  the  force  of  the  boats  themselves  pushing 
against  the  confined  volume  of  water.  In  the  restricted 
channel  on  the  Belgian  canals,  steam  towing  tugs  are 
restricted  to  27^  miles  per  hour,  in  wider  rivers  to  4^  miles. 
On  the  canal  joining  the  Tiege  and  Vistula,  steam  barges 
are  restricted  to  3  miles  per  hour.  Steam  tugs  on  the  river 
Lee,  England,  tow  50  to  60  ton  boats  at  a  rate  of  from  2  to 
2^  miles  per  hour  in  the  narrow  cuts  ;  3  to  3^  in  the  larger 
sections,  and  5  miles  in  the  Thames.  On  the  Erie  Canal, 
freight  steamers  make  40  miles  in  24  hours.  From  experi- 
ments made  in  1847,  by  Professor  Barlow,  on  the  Irwell  and 
Mersey  canal,  he  derived  the  conclusion  that  the  power 
required  to  overcome  the  resistance  to  the  passage  of  boats 
was  as  the  cube  of  the  velocity. 

In  Vol.  68,  page  278,  1881,  Trans.  Inst.  C.  E.,  some  facts 
are  given  relating  to  the  cost  of  operating  canals  in  Belgium. 
They  show  that  when  maintenance  and  interest  on  first  cost 
are  included  they  cannot  possibly  compete  with  railroads. 
These  canals  cost  $57,500  per  mile,  and  for  maintenance 
$465.00  per  mile.  The  cost  of  the  towing  alone  is  nearly 
y%  cent  per  ton  per  mile.  Steam  towing  on  the  Willebroeck 
Canal,  with  6  to  7  boats  at  a  time,  cost  for  towing  alone, 
2  mills  per  ton  mile.  Towing  by  horses  on  two  Belgian 
canals  11^  feet  deep  cost  about  3^  mills  per  ton  mile.  The 
net  cost  of  canal  carriage,  applying  the  foregoing  statements 
to  an  annual  traffic  of  600,000  ton  miles,  would  be  5^  to  6^ 
mills  per  ton  mile  for  steam  and  horse  towing  respectively. 


In  1857  (see  Vol.  17,  page  407,  Trans.  Inst.  C.  E.), 
Robert  Stevenson,  in  some  remarks  on  canals  and  rail- 
ways, said,  "There  could  be  no  doubt  that  the  canals 
near  London  are  admirable  auxiliaries  to  the  railways  and 
especially  as  a  terminus  of  goods  traffic,  but  when  one 
is  compared  with  the  other  as  regards  expense,  the 
experience  of  the  last  20  years  is  in  favor  of  railways." 
Mr.  Beardmore,  at  the  same  time,  ^urged  co-operation 
between  railways  and  canals,  saying,  "  Inasmuch  as  water 
conveyance  could  not  compete  with  railways  on  a  large  scale 
or  for  great  distances."  In  1854  (see  Vol.  13,  page  201, 
Trans.  Inst.  C.  E.),  in  a  discussion  of  the  subject  of  canals 
and  railways,  Mr.  Bidder,  Vice  Pres.  Inst.  C.  E.,  stated  that 
he  could  not  make  a  canal  compete  with  a  railway  by  animal 
power,  and  had  tried  steam  but  could  not  gain  any  advantage 
owing  to  the  restricted  area  of  the  canal.  Sir  Robert  Raw- 
linson  gave  an  opinion  that  canals  could  not  compete  with 
railways,  and  Sir  John  Hawkshaw  said,  that  in  1831  an  act 
had  been  obtained  to  convert  the  Manchester  and  Bolton 
Canal  into  a  railway,  but  the  project  was  abandoned  and  the 
railway  was  built  alongside  of  the  canal,  but  gradually 
absorbed  the  traffic  of  the  canal.  "It  was  «*.  subject  of 
regret  that  the  original  plan  had  not  been  been  carried  out, 
(or  canals  could  not  compete  with  railways."  These  were 
the  opinions  of  leading  engineers  30  years  ago.  Since 
then  it  has  not  been  possible  to  make  any  improvement  in 
the  speed  or  economy  of  canal  transportation,  but  the  rail- 
roads have  greatly  developed  in  both  these  respects. 

The  reasons  for  the  reduced  cost  in  railway  transportation 
of  late  years  are,  improvements  in  the  condition  of  railroads 
by  better  construction,  better  maintenance  of  track,  and  in 
more  economical  administration  ;  also,  in  the  increase  of  the 
amount  of  freight  hauled  on  one  train,  which  is  made  possible 
by  the  increase  in  locomotive  power  and  in  the  capacity  of 
cars.  The  train  load  has  increased  about  75  per  cent.  The 
capacity  of  cars  has  increased  from  20,000  Ibs.  in  1855  to  1876  ; 
to  40,000  Ibs  in  1882;  and  to  50,000  Ibs  in  1885;  and  the 
master  car  builders  have  recently  decided  upon  a  standard 
car  to  carry  6O,OOO  Ibs.  The  weight  of  cars  on  the  Penna. 


Railroad  increased  from  20,500  Ibs.  to  22,000  only,  from  1870 
to  1881,  but  the  load  capacity  increased  from  20,000  Ibs.  to 
40,000  Ibs.  There  has  also  been  a  great  reduction  in  the 
cost  of  repairs  on  locomotives.  In  1865  the  cost  per  one 
hundred  miles  run  on  the  Penna.  R.  R.  was  $16.48,  and 
in  1881  $6.02.  On  the  Penna.  R.  R.  the  locomotive  mileage 
increased  from  19,240  in  1870  to  27,644  in  1881,  and  the 
average  ton  mileage  increased  from  2,100,000  to  5,000,000. 
These  facts  are  extracted  from  a  paper  by  Mr.  Wm.  P.  Shinn, 
before  the  Am.  Soc.  of  C.  E.,  Vol.  II,  page  365,  1882. 
Great  advances  in  the  above  respects  have  also  been  made 
in  foreign  countries.  In  this  country  the  steadily  decreasing 
cost  of  rail  transportation  and  the  increasing  capacity  for 
business  have  increased  the  volume  of  freight  over  three  of 
the  main  trunk  lines,  viz :  Penna.,  New  York  Central, 
and  Erie,  from  10,476,857  tons  in  1868  to  46, 177,223  tons  in 
1883.  In  remarkable  contrast  the  New  York  State  canals 
have,,  in  the  same  period,  decreased  in  volume  of  freight  from 
6,442,225  to  5,664,056  tons.  • 

The  mileage  of  through  freight  boats  on  the  Erie  canal 
decreased  from  about  12,000,000  in  1850  to  6,660,000  in  1881. 

The  history  of  rates  on  this  canal  shows  that  there  was 
no  reduction  until  it  was  compelled  by  the  reduction  on  the 
railroads. 

The  canals  have  been  kept  alive  by  the  money  of  the  State. 
It  is  now  proposed  to  galvanize  them  into  new  life  by  the 
application  of  $3,000,000  to  their  beds,  banks  and  dilapidated 
structures.  Even  this  can  result  in  only  a  spasmodic  revival 
of  activity  and  nothing  but  bountiful  subsidies  and  generous 
gifts  to  the  despondent  owners  of  the  rotten  boats  will  keep 
the  mules  on  the  tow-path  another  five  years. 

It  is  a  significant  fact  that  in  Canada  also,  which  has  spent 
its  millions  on  a  complete  system  of  barge  and  ship  canals, 
the  merchants  are  demanding  an  abolition  of  all  tolls. 
What  more  positive  proof  that  the  canals  do  not  pay  as  an 
investment  ? 

The  last  report  on  transportation  issued  by  the  U.  S. 
Census  Bureau  states  that  about  2,000  miles  of  canals  (nearly 
one-half  of  all  that  have  been  constructed)  have  been 


abandoned.  The  original  .cost  of  these  abandoned  canals  was 
nearly  $50,000,000.  Railroads  now  occupy  the  beds  and 
banks  of  many  of  them. 

Notwithstanding  this  "  handwriting  on  the  wall"  the  stu- 
pendous folly  of  a  magnificent  ship  canal  from  the  Lakes  to 
New  York  is  really  proposed,  and  the  State  or  the  Federal 
Government  is  to  be  asked  to  expend  about  $240,000,000, 
more  or  less,  on  the  construction  of  a  transportation  line  for 
which  there  is  no  earthly  need.  It  is  a  retrograde  movement 
in  a  most  progressive  age  ;  the  re-introduction  of  methods 
that  are  not,  in  any  sense,  in  accord  with  its  spirit,  tendencies 
or  necessities. 

There  is  really  no  comparison  between  this  ancient  method 
of  transportation  and  the  modern  railway.  As  well  might 
we  compare  the  antiquated  Broadway  'bus  with  the  Elevated 
Railroad. 

On  the  Penna.  R.  R.,  Main  Div.,  and  the  Phila.  and  Erie 
Div.,  the  average  cost  is  about  4  mills  per  ton  per  mile, 
including  all  expenses  except  interest  on  capital.  This 
expense  includes  the  transportation  of  local  as  well  as 
through  freights,  handling  at  terminals  and  local  stations, 
maintenance  of  permanent  way,  motive  power  and  all 
the  incidental  and  general  expenses  connected  with  the 
operation  of  the  railroad.  On  the  same  railroad,  Susquehanna 
Div.,  the  actual  cost  of  hauling  (average  of  5  consolidated 
locomotives  on  816,115  car  miles)  was  0.6  of  a  mill  per  ton 
per  mile,  including  repairs  to  locomotives,  fuel,  stores  and 
train  hands.  The  cost  of  towing  by  steam  canal  boat  with 
consort  is  /  mill  running  cost  alone,  but  for  all  expenses,  but 
not  including  terminal  cost,  3.15  mills  per  ton  per  mile. 
(See  page  109,  Vol.  14,  1885,  Transactions  American  Society 
of  Civil  Engineers,  by  John  D.  Van  Buren,  Jr.)  This  method 
of  towing  is  the  least  expensive  of  any  by  canal.  This  cost  is 
based  on  full  loads  both  ways.  The  boats  cannot  be  run 
except  at  a  loss,  if  they  were  sent  one  way  empty. 

Again,  the  kind  of  freight  transported  by  canal  is  cheaply 
handled,  being  coal,  grain  and  lumber.  The  railroads 
carry  more  expensively  handled  freight,  and  run  their  cars 
empty  or  partially  loaded  if  necessary  to  accommodate  busi- 


ness.  The  speed  of  the  steam  canal  boat,  running  time  is 
five  miles  per  hour  on  the  Hudson  River,  and  2.1  miles  on  the 
Erie  canal,  while  the  average  running  time  of  the  railroads 
between  the  west  and  New  York  is  at  least  15  miles  per 
hour.  The  basis  of  comparison — actual  cost  of  hauling,  as 
above  made,  is  the  only  proper  one,  since  the  Erie  canal  is 
owned  by  the  State  and  maintained  and  controlled  by  it  at 
no  cost  of  interest,  or  tolls,  or  other  expenses  to  the  boats. 
Without  bringing  forward  further  proof,  the  reasons  are 
evident  for  the  decay  of  the  canals  and  the  rapid  growth  of 
railroads  as  being  better  adapted  to  the  needs  of  internal 
commerce  by  affording  promptness,  convenience  and  econ- 
omy. 

If  we  compare  ship  canals,  for  interoceanic  communication 
and  for  shortening  the  lines  of  commerce,  with  ship  railways 
we  shall  find  a  still  greater  difference  in  favor  of  the  ship 
railway. 

The  resistances  to  be  overcome  in  the  restricted  channel 
of  an  ordinary  canal  exist  to  a  still  greater  extent  in  the  ship 
canal,  for  while  the  canal  is  larger  in  cross-section,  the  size 
""of  the  vessel  is  also  larger  and  the  ratio  of  immersed  section 
to  the  available  water  section  is  increased.  The  speed 
required  is  also  greater  and  the  tractive  power  consequently 
increased.  It  requires  for  instance,  as  ascertained  by  careful 
calculations,  twice  as  much  power  to  move  a  lake  steamer 
through  the  St.  Clair  Flats  Ship  Canal,  of  large  dimensions, 
at  5  miles  an  hour  as  it  does  to  propel  her  on  the  open  lakes 
at  the  same  speed. 

In  a  paper  before  the  Inst.  C.  E.,  (Vol.  68,  page  278,  1881,) 
Mr.  A.  Gobert,  calculating  from  the  resistances  and  other 
facts  gathered  from  several  barge  canals,  said  that  the  net 
cost  of  ship  canal  transportation  would  be  about  one  cent  per 
ton  per  mile  including  interest,  maintenance,  insurance,  wages 
and  fuel.  It  is  a  fact  that  in  the  narrow  part  of  the  river 
Clyde  large  steamers  cannot  make  over  8  to  9  miles  per  hour 
while  they  can  make  16  to  18  miles  per  hour  at  sea.  The 
resistance  to  steamers  and  the  increase  of  tractive  power  and 
cost  of  transportation  are  plainly  seen  in  the  operation  of  the 
Suez  canal.  The  average  time  occupied  in  actual  movement 


10 

through  the  canal  increased  from  17  hours  in  1876  to  19  hours 
and  32  minutes  in  1884.  The  speed  slackened  from  5.88  miles 
to  5.13  miles  per  hour  and,  the  time  passed  in  the  canal  by 
each  steamer  increased  from  39  hours  in  1876  to  49  hours  and 
58  minutes  in  the  first  three  months  of  1884,  or  an  average 
speed  of  2  miles  per  hour.  A  steamer  forced  through  the  canal 
at  about  seven  knots  per  hour  produced  a  retarding  current  of 
6  1-2  knots  per  hour.  The  speed  through  the  canal  is  re- 
stricted by  rules  to  5  miles  per  hour.  A  practical  navigator 
stated  that  with  a  ship  drawing  20  feet,  a  speed  of  over  4 
knots  an  hour  would  result  in  mishaps.  (Vol.  76,  page  161, 
1883,  Trans.  Inst.  C.  E.) 

Sir  Charles  A.  Hartley  stated  that  the  speed  in  the  canal 
proper  is  considerably  less  than  4  miles.  On  the  river  Clyde, 
at  points  where  the  channel  is  about  150  feet  wide  and  10  feet 
deep,  vessels  whose  length  is  120  feet,  have,  at  rare  intervals, 
been  propelled  at  speeds  of  from  8  to  9  miles  per  hour.  "  At 
this  speed  a  surge  rises  at  from  2  to  j  miles  ahead,  and  a  wave 
is  produced  which  measures  8  to  9  feet  from  crest  to  trough, 
producing  a  theoretic  wave  speed  of  16  miles  per  hour,  which 
shows  a  loss  of  fifty  per  cent,  due  to  the  restriction  of  the 
channel."  The  immense  force  generated  by  the  wave  was 
seen  in  its  destructive  action  upon  the  slopes  of  hand-laid 
stone,  2  to  3  feet  thick,  along  the  banks  of  the  canal.  The 
effect  produced  by  a  steamer  moving  through  the  South  Pass 
of  the  Mississippi  River,  whose  width  is  about  700  feet  and 
depth  over  30  feet,  is  very  similar  to  that  described  above. 
The  great  surge,  or  wave,  moves  in  advance  of  the  steamer 
and  breaks  over  the  low  banks,  flooding  the  adjacent  land. 
Yet  this  channel  has  about  three  times  the  sectional  area  of 
a  ship  canal. 

Ordinary  sea-going  steamers  transport  freight  at  a  cost  of 
about  0.5  mill  per  ton  per  mile,  running  expenses  alone  con- 
sidered, and  not  including  interest,  insurance,  depreciation 
of  steamer,  and  profit,  or  0.3  mill  by  the  best  examples  of 
sea-going  steamers.  The  cost  on  a  ship  canal  at  2  miles  per 
hour  (the  economical  speed),  as  against  12  miles  per  hour  on 
the  ocean,  and  with  the  same  power  required,  would  increase 
the  cost  6  times,  or  to  j.o  mills  per  ton  per  mile.  The  cost  of 


11 

hauling-  on  a  railroad  on  the  same  basis  would  be  about 
0.6  mill — one-fifth  as  much  only. 

Thus  far  we  have  compared  barge  and  ship  canals 
with  the  ordinary  railroad.  It  is  necessary  now  to  take 
a  broader  basis,  and  compare  the  three  methods — the  ordinary 
railroad,  the  ship  canal,  and  the  ship  railway,  in  construction, 
operation  and  profits.  It  may  be  stated  broadly  that  rail- 
road transportation  in  this  country  has  been  so  far  reduced 
in  cost  as  to  make  it  possible  to  haul  freight  at  about  4  mills 
per  ton  per  mile  including  all  expenses,  even  the  terminal 
and  other  handlings  of  local  and  through  freights,  also  ex- 
penses of  repairs  and  renewals,  general  expenses  of  manage- 
ment, and  the  many  other  charges  that  go  to  make  up  the 
details  of  the  cost  of  railroad  transportation.  The  cost  of 
handling-  freight  is  not  perhaps  appreciated  by  even  railroad 
managers,  for,  while  immense  and  continual  reductions  are 
being  made  in  the  cost  of  hauling,  but  little  advance  has 
been  made  in  reducing  the  cost  at  terminals  and  stations. 
It  .costs  as  much  to  handle  a  ton  of  goods  at  the  New  York 
terminal  as  it  does  to  hanl  it  to  Albany  or  Philadelphia. 
Another  important  item  in  the  cost  of  ordinary  railroad 
transportation  is  the  labor.  An  army  of  employees  is  re- 
quired for  all  the  various  duties  devolving  upon  railroads, 
Hundreds  of  returns  and  reports  require  a  large  clerical 
force.  The  relations  and  connections  with  other  roads  in 
cars,  goods,  back  charges,  &c.,  make  a  large  amount  of  work 
necessary.  The  assorting  of  goods  for  different  destina- 
tions, the  handling  of  cars  on  sidings,  and  in  terminal  and 
division  yards  require  not  only  a  variety  of  labor,  but  expen- 
sive power  also. 

The  expenses  of  doing  all  this  work  is  however  so  sys- 
tematically performed  and  recorded  on  the  best  railroads  of 
the  country,  that  the  cost  of  the  various  items  is  fully  known. 
We  need  not  have  further  to  do  with  it  here,  but  enter  at 
once  upon  the  Ship-Railway  method,  and  its  great  advan- 
tages over  the  ordinary  railroad. 


12 


The  estimate  of  cost  of  operating  the  Ship-Railway  is  as 
follows  at  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec,  which  is  used  as  an 
illustration  on  account  of  our  greater  familiarity  with  it. 


First.  The  maintenance  of  the  permanent  way.  The 
cost  of  maintenance  in  this  country  on  a  first  class 
double  track,  railroad,  including  .sidings,  yards, 
buildings,  &c.,  in  other  words,  everything  but 
rolling  stock,  is  about  $1700  per  mile  of  railroad, 
sidings  being  at  least  25  per  cent,  of  the  whole. 
The  wear  on  the  rails  and  ties,  switches  and  frogs, 
is  constant  and  expensive.  On  the  ship-railway, 
the  speed  being  slower,  the  rails  heavier,  and  the 
whole  superstructure  more  nearly  perfect,  there 
will  be  much  less  wear  and  none  of  the  expense 
arising  in  this  country  from  frost  and  snow.  There 
is,  however,  a  greater  rainfall,  probably  more 
deterioration  of  materials  in  wooden  structures, 
and  an  increased  cost  of  labor  ;  also,  50  per  cent, 
more  track  to  be  kept  up.  It  will  be  fair  to 
estimate  the  maintenance  at  $2500  per  mile,  or  a 
total  for  the  whole  distance  (134  miles)  of 

Second.  The  cost  of  operating  the  terminals,  from  a 
careful  detailed  estimate  of  labor,  coal,  materials 
and  repairs,  will  be  $350  per  day,  or  for  365  days, 
$127,750  ;  and  for  two  terminals,  per  annum, 


Third.  The  cost  of  operating  the  five  ship-railway 
turn-tables,  at  $300  per  day,  : 

Fourth.  The  motive  power  for  hauling  vessels,  per 
annum,  4,000,000  tons  at  0.52  mill  per  ton  per 
mile, . 

Fifth.     Telegraph  expenses,  .... 

Sixth.     Incidentals,    ....... 

Seventh.     General  expenses,   .         .         .         .         . 


$335,°°° 

255, 5°° 
109,500 

278,720 

.  20,000 

40,000 

.  50,000 


Total, 


Si, 088, 720 


13 

Add  for  foreign  and  other  expenses  and  contingencies,  10 
per  cent.;  the  total  then  reaching  $1,197,592,  or  in  round 
numbers,  $1,200,000,  or  jo  cents  per  ton  on  4,000,000  tons. 

The  gross  income  at  $2.50  per  ton  would  be  $10,000,000, 
and  the  profit  $8.800,000,  which  is  12  per  cent,  on  $75,000,000 
capital.  If  the  charge  is  $3.00  per  ton,  the  gross  earnings 
will  be  $12,000,000  ;  the  profit,  $10,800,000,  or  14^  per  cent, 
on  $75,000,000.  If  the  full  estimate  of  6,000,000  tons  is 
reached,  the  cost  per  ton  will  be  23.3  cents  ;  the  profit  at 
$2.50  per  ton,  18  per  cent.;  and  at  $3.00  per  ton,  22  per  cent. 
The  working  expenses  on  4,000,000  tons  will  be  12  per  cent, 
of  the  gross  receipts  at  $2.50  per  ton  ;  and  IO  per  cent,  at 
$3.00  per  ton. 

The  cost  of  operating  the  Ship-Railway  acrqss  the  Isthmus 
of  Tehuantepec,  may  be  ascertained  by  another  method,  as 
follows  : 

The  cost  per  ton  per  mile  on  the  best  railroads,  is  3  mills 
per  ton  per  mile  for  througJi  freight.  From  this  should  first 
be  deducted  the  cost  of  such  work  as  does  not  pertain  to  the 
Ship-Railway.  All  items  of  cost  appear  on  page  Si,  Penna. 
Railroad  Report  of  1885. 

Deducting  irrelevant  items  we  can  properly  reduce  the 
cost  48  per  cent.,  or  to  1.56  mills  ;  but  a  still  further 
reduction  is  proper.  Much  larger  loads  are  carried,  the  ratio 
of  paying  to  non-paying  loads  is  greater,  the  frictional 
resistance  to  the  motive  power  is  reduced  at  least  30  per 
cent.,  the  rails  are  straight,  the  track  perfect,  the  grades 
light,  and  greater  results  are  obtained  with  less  fuel  and 
service. 

The  average  paying  load  on  the  New  York  Central 
Railroad  in  1883,  was  199  tons,  the  average  non-paying  load, 
350  tons,  total  549  tons.  The  average  load  on  the  Ship- 
Railway  may  be  assumed  at  1,800  tons  paying  load,  or  3,000 
tons  total  load  ;  or  about  nine  times  as  much  paying  load  as 
on  the  railroads.  The  above  favorable  conditions  allow  us 
to  reduce  the  cost  to  /  mill  per  ton  per  mile. 

Fifty  per  cent  of  the  cost  of  operating  is  labor,  which 
should  be  doubled  for  a  tropical  country,  increasing  the  cost 


14 

to   1.5  mills,  or  for   134  miles,  20.1   cents,  which  it  should  be 
remembered  is  the  total  cost,  not  simply  the  cost  of  carriage. 

The  cost  at  the  terminals  will  be  so  small  that  the  goods 
may  be  said  to  unload  and  load  themselves. 

If  ten  ships   are   handled   daily,  of  1,500  tons  each,  the 

labor  at  the  dock  will  be  per  day,       .         .         .         .      $174.00 
The  coal,  stores,  wear  and  tear  of  machinery,       .         .         .     150.00 

Total,      .         .         .         .'.''.         .         .       $324.00 

To  cover  contingencies,  say,  .         .        ,         .  .  $350.00 
Or,  per  ship,         .         .         .         .        ....          35-°° 

Or,  per  ton,     .         .         .  »         .      ,   .         .  .         2^c. 
Or,  for  two  terminals,       '   .         .         .                  .         .     4§c. 

The  cost  of  operating  the  five  turn-tables  in  making 
changes  of  direction  (which,  however,  will  not  be  more  than 
the  cost  of  operating  the  sidings  on  railroads)  will  be  two 
cents  per  ton. 

The  total  cost  per  ton  will  therefore  be,  20.1  cents  plus  4.66 
cents  plus  2  cents,  equal  to  26.76  cents.  Adding,  however, 
15  per  cent,  to  cover  any  unexpected  expenses,  we  have  a 
total  cost  of  about  jo  cents  per  ton. 

This  estimate,  though  made  on  an  entirely  different  basis, 
agrees  with  our  previous  statement. 

In  comparing  the  Tehuantepec  Ship-Railway  with  the 
Ship  Canal,  the  cost  of  construction  will  be  $75,000,000  for 
the  Ship-Railway,  and  probably  $300,000,000  for  the  Panama 
Canal,  and  $200,000,000  for  the  Nicaragua  Canal.  Major 
McFarland's  estimate  for  the  latter  was  $140,000,000  with 
labor  at  %i.oo  per  day.  The  cost  of  maintenance  will  also  be 
much  less. 

The  road-bed  of  the  Railway  is  above  the  water,  and  is  no- 
where subject  to  the  dangerous  floods  or  engulfing  slides 
from  immense  cuts.  The  road-bed  is  50  feet  in  width, 
whereas  the  prism  of  the  canal  must  be  at  least  200  feet, 
from  which  all  washed-in  material  must  be  removed  by  very 
expensive  means. 

The  Suez  Canal,  where  the  rain-fall  is  about  2  inches  per 


15 

annum,  required  in  1883,  in  the  canal  proper,  the  dredging  of 
781,282  cubic  yards.  The  annual  cost  for  cleaning  the  canal 
is  about  2,000,000  francs  ($400,000).  The  total  expenses  of 
all  kinds  in  1883  were  over  $6,000,000.  The  expenses  of 
working  the  canal,  &c.,  were  about  $3,600,000.  The  ma- 
terial in  this  canal  can  be  cheaply  thrown  out  on  either 
side  by  the  dredges,  and  only  40  per  cent,  of  the  distance 
is  through  cuts  over  10  feet  high  above  the  water  line. 

The  expense  at  Panama  will  be  largely  in  excess  of  that 
at  Suez,  as  the  prism  of  the  canal  will  be  exposed  to  a  rain- 
fall of  about  120  inches  per  annum,  falling  on  enormous  clay 
slopes,  one  of  them  over  400  feet  in  height. 

The  dangerous  and  uncontrollable  volume  of  the  Chagres 
River  will  be  a  constant  menace  to  the  integrity  of  the  pass- 
age way.  It  may  be  fairly  estimated,  therefore,  that  the 
working  expenses  of  the  canal  will  not  be  less  than  $4,000,000 
to  $5,000,000,  and  they  will  be  fully  as  great  at  Nicaragua. 

At  Nicaragua  the  length  is  186  miles,  about  20  miles  only 
of  which  is  open  water.  The  remainder  is  a  dredged,  excava- 
ted, embanked,  or  walled  channel,  with  several  locks  to  be 
maintained.  The  cost  of  towing  sailing  vessels  through 
either  canal  will  be  considerably  more  expensive  than  haul- 
ing them  on  the  Ship-Railway  ;  and  the  cost  of  propelling  a 
steamer  by  her  own  power,  will  be,  as  has  been  previously 
shown,  3.0  mills  per  ton  per  mile,  as  against  say,  0.5  mill  per 
ton  per  mile  by  the  Ship-Railway. 

The  development  of  the  plans  of  the  Ship-Railway  has 
been  followed  so  closely  by  you  during  the  last  five  years, 
that  it  is  unnecessary  to  explain  them  in  detail,  or  to  occupy 
your  time  in  proving  their  practicability,  particularly  as  this 
has  already  been  acknowledged  by  many  members  of  this 
Society,  who  have  given  the  subject  special  attention. 

As  to  the  routes,  the  Tehuantepec  will  save,  on  an  average, 
1,000  miles  on  the  main  commercial  lines,  which,  for  a  three 
thousand  ton  steamer,  will  reduce  the  cost  of  steaming 
$1,000,  and  the  time  4  days  ;  and  this  distance  will  be  saved 
over  either  Panama  or  Nicaragua,  for  on  account  of  the 
longer  time  required  to  go  through  the  latter,  it  has  no 
advantage  over  the  Panama  route  in  point  of  time. 


16 

The  advantage  also  to  the  ship  in  being  docked  for  eigh- 
teen or  twenty  hours,  or  longer,  if  her  master  desires  it, 
should  be  considered,  for  it  is  necessary  to  take  steamers  out 
of  the  water  twice  each  year  to  be  scraped,  cleaned  and 
painted..  It  will  save  to  the  ship  owners  $1,000  over  dock- 
age in  port. 

The  tolls  on  the  Ship-Railway  could  be  increased  beyond 
those  of  any  canal  route  to  the  extent  of  the  saving  to  the 
steamer  by  being  hauled  instead  of  propelled  by  her  own  ex- 
pensive power,  and  to  the  sailing  vessels  by  being  hauled 
instead  of  towed. 

The  comparative  rate  of  economical  speed  will  be  as 
2  miles  to  zo,  so  that  while  the  Railway  is  longer  than  the 
Panama  Canal,  the  crossing  from  ocean  to  ocean  can  be  made 
in  the  same  or  less  time,  and  as  compared  with  Nicaragua,  in 
one-quarter  of  the  time. 

We  therefore  summarize  the  preceding  statements  by 
saying  that  a  canal  cannot  compete  in  speed  or  economy  or 
facilities  with  a  railroad,  and  that  a  ship-canal  must  also  be 
much  more  expensive  than  a  ship-railway  in  first  cost,  main- 
tenance and  operation,  and  much  inferior  to  it  in  despatch, 
facilities  and  conveniences  ;  and  that  the  Tehuantepec  Ship- 
Railway,  as  compared  with  any  other  possible  method  or 
route  for  interoceanic  communication  between  the  Atlantic 
and  Pacific  Oceans,  has  every  advantage,  and  is  entitled  to 
the  support  of  engineers,  capitalists  and  commercial  men,  as 
subserving  to  such  a  high  degree  and  at  such  comparatively 
small  expense  in  first  cost  and  operation,  the  necessities  of 
the  world's  varied  and  growing  industries. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  LOS  ANGELES 

THE  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 


6  030 
2  3  1961 


OTJT 


LOS  ANGEL 


TC 

753   Corthell  - 

C81d  Discussion  of 

~^tfrre  ~psrper 
E.   Svsee-l 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGION/ 


000  947  241     6 


TC 

753 

C81d 


